


Shatter

by Endofwave



Category: LinkedUniverse - Fandom, The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, linked universe au - Fandom, linked universe- fandom
Genre: Gen, here comes the pain train
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-10
Updated: 2019-03-10
Packaged: 2019-11-15 05:26:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,574
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18067436
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Endofwave/pseuds/Endofwave
Summary: They protect their own. They must, to survive.





	Shatter

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by a conversation in the linkeduniverse discord chat. Warning for descriptions of violence, none too graphic.

He flinches whenever the others unsheathe their swords.

Twilight notices. He doesn’t know if the others do. It’s been weeks, and it feels like a red hot knife being driven into his heart whenever he sees the fear, quickly replaced by guarded indifference, in the younger hero’s eyes. Twilight notices, and he hates himself a little more every time he does.

It’s all his fault.

He had been in wolf form, at the time. This was normal, for a quiet night around a softly flickering campfire. None of the others had known, then, save for Four and Time, and Twilight preferred it that way. If the others sometimes questioned his long absences, so be it- he valued the brief anonymity the form allowed him. Wild had excused himself hours earlier, gone off to his own devices after fixing dinner for the group, and would likely be back in time for the first watch. This, too, was normal.

A twig snapped in the woods behind him.

Twilight’s ear swiveled to the sound automatically, and a soft growl rumbled in his throat. Four, sitting on the ground beside him, removed his hand from Twilight’s thick fur and placed it on the hilt of the Four Sword.

“Wolfie heard something,” he said, quietly alerting the others. Time looked first at him, then at Twilight, then into the woods beyond.

“From what direction?”

“I don’t know. Be on your guard.”

Twilight rose, warily scanning the treeline for danger. A faint breeze rustled through the leaf litter, but the night was otherwise still and silent. In this darkness, not even his wolf senses could detect movement other than the shadows flickering in the firelight. He bared his fangs silently at the unknown, and turned back to the rest of the group with an annoyed huff. An animal, perhaps, or a trick of the wind. Time met his eyes and relaxed fractionally. Whatever danger had been, had passed.

Settling once more beside Four, Twilight forced his fur to lie flat as he rested his head on his paws. His instincts still told him that something was amiss, that something was _wrong_. Four was patting him lightly on the back, but he hardly felt the soothing pressure.

“Nothing out there,” said Four quietly. The shortest hero was looking at Twilight with concern, and he realized he was still growling, unconsciously. “Just the forest.” He was right. There were only the trees, their leaves rustling in the wind, and the dancing shadows they cast.

The shadows.

_The shadows._

He leapt up as though electrified, whirling around with a rumbling snarl, and it was already too late.

It had found them.

He ignored the startled shouts of his companions, and tuned out the metallic sounds of their swords being drawn. As quick as they were, the shadow would be faster; the twin pinpricks of red light in the darkness were approaching their camp at an unnatural pace that Twilight could see would outpace his friends in an instant.

It was a good thing he was in this form. He could at least get there first, slow it down. Buy them some time to prepare their weapons while he distracted it.

Twilight lunged at the shadow with a snarl, and it was only then that the wind blew the thing’s scent in his direction.

It smelled, overwhelmingly, of monsters. Twilight almost faltered in his trajectory, reeling at the stench. It smelled of monsters, magic, blood, and something else, something more familiar. It was faint, and buried beneath the other, more powerful scents, but when Twilight realized what it was it hit him like a charging bullbo.

It smelled like the forest after a rainstorm, damp dirt, and the crisp cold of the Hebra mountains. It smelled like the smokiness of a campfire, and, even fainter, the achingly familiar scents of his companions.

Wild. The beast smelled like _Wild._

Now he did falter.

It didn’t matter what they did here and now. They were already too late.

Twilight fell short of the shadow, stumbling with the weight of his realization. He could see it in his mind, what must have happened. Wild, perched silently in a tree or hunting alone, as he sometimes did, prepared for danger but not like _this_. It would have come upon him too quickly, catching him unawares, running him through before could react-

Wild had never fought his own shadow, never mentioned it when the others had. He wouldn’t have known. He would have been defeated- been _dead killed slaughtered_ -

Mind and body numb with horror and denial, he looked up at the shadow.

They were separated from the others by enough foliage that it hadn’t yet noticed them. It was looking back Twilight, directly at him, expression unreadable in the darkness. Its posture suggested an easy calmness, completely unfazed by what it was up against, by what it had _done-_

Twilight didn’t think. He couldn’t. If he did, he was certain that he would collapse under the weight of his own anguish, and be slaughtered where he lay. Just like-

He lunged.

The shadow’s eyes widened almost imperceptibly and it stumbled backwards with a distorted cry as Twilight slammed into it, jaws agape. The impact knocked it flat on it’s back and Twilight rolled into the momentum, leaping back onto his feet and bowling the beast over as it tried to sit up. It twisted to the side, bracing one arm under itself for stability- and the Biggoron sword embedded itself in the dirt next to its head. 

Time couldn’t have known what Twilight did, but he must have sensed some of his descendant’s raw fury and fear, because it was reflected in his own face. His one eye glared thunderously down at the shadow, which reeled away from the enormous blade like it been burned. It opened its mouth with a harsh gasp, perhaps to say something or plead for its life. 

What came out was a strangled scream and a spurt of blood as Twilight buried his jaws in its throat.

It thrashed against him, kicking wildly, and he could smell its blind panic but worst of all he could still smell _Wild_ , and he clamped down harder, snarling and jerking his head back and forth. Thick blood flooded into his mouth, clogging his senses, and he felt the shadow’s windpipe collapse with a crunch between his jaws. It spasmed violently, chest heaving under his paws for air that wasn’t there, and after what felt like an eternity finally went still. Blood pumped steadily from its ruined throat for a moment longer, then slowed to a sluggish trickle. Twilight opened his mouth, letting the body slump to the ground, and collapsed beside it.

Without hesitation, Time knelt beside him, tossing his sword aside. Twilight felt calloused hands down the length of his back, under his neck, and running briefly through the thick fur on his chest and stomach. Checking him for injuries that weren’t there.

“Are you alright, pup?” He murmured, too quietly for the others to hear. They were standing around now, taking in the scene. Four hurried over to Time and Twilight, crouching down at their side, and Wind, eyes wide at the carnage, followed quickly after. Legend gave a low, impressed whistle.

“Well, it seems Hylia didn’t need nine legendary heroes after all.” He nudged the body with the tip of his boot. “One wolf will do the job just as well.”

“Quiet,” muttered Time, casting his gaze around the dark trees. Warriors, picking up on his unease, drew his sword once again.

“You think this was too easy,” he observed. “Well, I agree. Something isn’t right here.” He gestured broadly at the shadow’s corpse. “Look. The body should be dissolving into darkness by now. It may have made this in its image, but it isn’t the real thing.”

Twilight felt a hesitant pressure on the top of his head between his ears, and from somewhere far away he realized he was whimpering. He almost flinched away from Time’s touch, but then the older hero started to slowly wipe the blood from his muzzle with his other hand and he forced himself to relax into it.

“It’s alright, pup,” he was murmuring, a deep concern in his eye. “You’re safe with us.” He raised his head to the group. “Warriors, Sky, take one of the lanterns and check the area for other threats. Stay within shouting distance. Hyrule, Legend, you two take the other- I need you to get out there and find Wild.”

Seven heads turned as the wolf’s soft whimper rose into an anguished keening. If he were human, Twilight would have thrown up. How could he tell them- how could he, when he couldn’t even tell _himself_ -

The roaring in his ears drowned out most of the others sounds, but he didn’t miss Time’s sharp intake of breath, or the way that his hand tightened in his fur. He’d figured it out, then. Twilight wanted to sob, but he prayed desperately, selfishly, that Time could remain steady for him. If he fell, Twilight would shatter.

“Pup-” he whispered, voice cracking before cutting off. The hand on Twilight’s head was shaking now. “Tw-”

He wanted to pretend that he can’t smell the salt of the silent tears running down Time’s face. He wanted to run into the night and just keep running, to leave the body of the shadow far behind him and never come back. He wanted to wake up and realize that this was all a terrible nightmare.

He wanted _Wild_.

And, as they always had, the Goddesses answered his pleas in the worst way possible.

The body twitched and six swords flashed in the moonlight, tips hovering in the air above its chest. Twilight watched uncomprehendingly as the ragged wound where the shadow’s throat had been warped and twisted, knitting itself back together. A light pulsed from its chest, and Twilight shut his eyes against the sudden brightness.

The soft glow that filled the clearing was unrecognizable out of context. But the voice was unmistakable.

_“It is my pleasure.”_

Wild opened his eyes with a shuddering gasp.

Twilight was human and at his side in an instant. Someone’s sword clattered to the ground as he grasped Wild’s hand in his own, shaking so violently with the relieved sobs that wracked his body that only the steadying presence of Time’s hand on his back kept him from falling to the ground.

Wild’s other hand reached down and grasped at the dark hem of his tunic, pulling it back to reveal the Sheikah slate. His trembling fingers tapped blindly at the screen, eyes squeezed shut. After a moment, the familiar blue glow of Sheikah technology wove around him like a cocoon. The threads of light faded into the night as Wild dropped the slate carelessly on the ground beside him, now wearing his familiar blue tunic.

He was _here_.

He was _alive_.

...He had killed him.

Twilight had killed him. He had _killed_ him. He had held his throat between his teeth as he choked to death on his own blood. He had killed him in the most terrifyingly intimate way possible, and in that moment it didn’t matter that the others had been equally willing to help.

He had tasted Wild’s blood.

It was all his fault.

He didn’t register relaxing his grip on Wild’s hand, only the sudden motion of it being ripped out of his grasp. He looked up, mind buzzing with static as he tried to process what he had done.

Wild was staring directly at him. His eyes were wide and half crazed with fear, confusion, and another emotion that Twilight couldn’t put a name to, only an image of a mirror shattering and a door to another world closing for good.

“Wild-”

Wild shook his head mutely, scrambling backwards and away from him. His breath came out in short, quick bursts as his eyes darted back and forth between Twilight’s face and Biggoron sword, then came to rest on the discarded Sheikah slate.

Twilight saw his protege’s eyes focus on the object, saw them harden, and a terrible fear shot through him. He stumbled forward on his hands and knees, one arm outstretched in desperation. “Wild, I-”

In one smooth movement Wild swept up the slate in one hand, rolling to his feet and almost falling over his own momentum. His boots scrambled for purchase in the lose soil, and launched him forward at breakneck pace the moment he found his balance.

Twilight expected him to stop at the treeline, to look back, to say something- _anything_.

Wild disapeared into the darkness without a second glance.

\---

He was used to being alone, and it was obvious that the Goddesses had made him that way.

He’d run for an hour before the exhaustion of dying had caught up to him. He could hear them crashing through the brush, following his trail- they might have even found him if he hadn’t finally thought to use the Sheikah slate. It took him miles and miles away, where they would never find him, and he’d climbed the tallest tree he could find. Only up there, concealed surrounded on all sides by thick foliage, did he finally allow himself to cry.

Stupid. He’d been stupid, and now the Goddesses were punishing him for it.

For a long time, he couldn’t think anything else. _Stupid, stupid, stupid_. Stupid for trusting himself. Stupid for thinking they could never hurt him.

Stupid for believing them when they said he wouldn’t have to be alone anymore.

...What was he going to do?

Every time he closed his eyes he saw Twilight’s slavering jaws lunging towards his throat, or the steel of Time’s sword driving into the ground beside him, missing his head by inches only because Wild had seen the blade descending and reacted. Every time he let his thoughts drift they reminded him how he had awoken from death only to see six swords pointed at his chest, ready to end his life for the second time in minutes.

After a while the tears stopped, and eventually the dry sobs did too. They gave way to a familiar numbness that Wild welcomed.

He couldn’t go back. That, he was sure of. Whatever bonds he had forged with the others had been shattered, and maybe he’d been stupid, so stupid, to think they’d ever existed in the first place.

He couldn’t go home. This wasn’t the Hyrule he knew, and his warm house in Hateno felt impossibly far away. In any case, Hylia had brought him here, and he had no reason to believe he would be allowed to leave without fulfilling his purpose.

So he would, then. Fine. He would do his duty, and then he would go home. He would do it alone.

When dawn came, Wild left the tree and collected his travel medallion, then pulled out the Sheikah slate. He equipped the armor set one piece at a time, stripping them off with his own hands as they materialized. The air was cold against his bare chest as he gave the discarded clothing a last, blank glance, then turned away. Funny how all he could think was that would be harder to hunt at night, now.

He chose some of his warmer armor that did nothing to block out the cold, and walked into the lonely wilderness where he belonged.


End file.
